Roadtrippers.asia

Roadtrippers.asia 1.0 Kuala Lumpur to Phuket – Day 2

Day 2 of our road-trip takes us from the border town of Dannok up North, by-passing Hatyai through to Phatthalung before cutting Westward through the Gateway of Andaman – Trang. From Trang, we will continue to head Northwest to the lovely beach city of Krabi.

We started off Day 2 with a sumptuous breakfast at Vouk Village Hotel where I believed most Malaysians will feel very at home. A good buffet spread I would say for a three-star hotel, making it a good-value for money for your stay, that is if you managed to wake up for breakfast.

After breakfast, we loaded up the Sorento and took a few photos nearby the hotel of the four-faced Buddha and the large statue of Ganesha before departing.

The drive from Dannok to Hatyai roughly take between 45 minutes, covering just about 55 km. Along the drive up Highway 4, you’re bound to come across this rather famous Hua Tanon Temple where you will see a number of tour buses stopping by. We just stopped a while to snap this photo to share and continued our drive up. The weather was good, and we thought, yeah, finally those gloomy skies that has been covering the skies in Southern Thailand has finally moved on.

Drive on Highway 4 through Hatyai and then on to Phatthalung was uneventful ~ roads are paved and you’re on a dual-carriageway highway all throughout. The journey from Hatyai to Phatthalung is roughly 100km and it took us about 1 hour 15 minutes to cover that stretch before taking a westward exit towards Trang. Road-signages in Thailand are pretty good – I would say you can easily make it to Trang without any maps, just relying on road signages which is pretty clear. The drive from Phatthalung to Trang is about 55km and will take a good one hour drive through very beautiful road that cuts through the mountain. I would say this is one of the most beautiful stretch of roads in Southern Thailand ~ a very nice drive to enjoy. There is a nice little R&R halfway though the drive and a great stop for photos too.

It started to drizzle a little at the stop we had and it got us a little worried as our first stop – the Krabi Emerald Pool (or Sa Morakot) is just like an hour and 30 minutes away and I really wanted to visit this place as I have missed it the last couple of times I was in Krabi.

We continued our drive with patchy spots of drizzle and got to Sa Morakot about 1:30pm and immediately went to change into our swimwear but as we about to start our hike into the Sa Morakot, it poured – like really poured. We were drenched and decided to hop into the Ruen Morakot Restaurant to have lunch first and hope the rain will be over by the time we are done.

We met up with the owner of this Ruen Morakot Restaurant, definitely the best restaurant in the Sa Morakot area and many say is one of the best Thai restaurant in Krabi. We were served with choice of dishes, from their famous fried chicken wings to the delicious cashew nut chicken, and another of their signature Kengsom Pla.

Their deep fried seabass was nice and crispy on the outside but so tender and juicy in the inside. When you eat with the spicy sour dipping sauce .. its incredible.

I didn’t touch the shrimp with stinky beans (oh – i hate those beans) but our roadtrippers loved it but I had loads of the Tomyum Talay which was so delicious with just the right balance of sourness and spiciness for me.

It was definitely a great meal for us to enjoy at Ruen Morakot Restaurant – if you’re are around in this vicinity, I would strongly recommend this restaurant to you.

Since the rain did not stop, we decided to give the Emerald Pool a missed even though it was one of the highlight of this road-trip. I guess sometimes we just can’t plan for weather and knowing that we will have to hike in a good 1 km or so and it’s definitely not going to be fun as it was still raining rather heavily. We continued our drive to Krabi and our goal was to get there before the sunset.

The rain persisted till we got close to Krabi town and as we continued our drive to more exclusive and quiet Klong Muang Beach, it started to clear out and I guess we might just have a beautiful sunset. We got to our hotel – the elegant 5-star Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort and was immediately greeted by their management team. Check-in was smooth and easy and we were given an brief introduction tour of the facilities, including the largest free-form swimming pool in all of Thailand, the suite room where the Thai princess once stayed in and its beach.

We check-into our lovely 54m² luxury room on the ground floor which has a sliding door that opens to the garden and onto the pool. The room is furnished with classic wood furniture and hard-wood flooring, giving it a very European feel to the room. The room was spacious, well-appointed and very comfortable. As usual, Sofitel Resorts are equipped with their signature MyBed which are so so comfortable to sleep in.

The toilet are big with powerful shower and a bathtub with amenities from the famous French brand – L’Occitane.

Once settled in the room, we quickly change and head out to enjoy the pool and whatever sunset that is left for the day.

We had a great time at the pool ~ guess it was late and there’s just not too many people in the pool – so we pretty much had the largest free-form pool in Thailand all just to ourselves. However, the pool closes at 7pm just after the sun is down, and I guess because of the size of the pool, its only safe to close after sun-down.

We cleaned up after fun time we had in the pool and we were told of this place which is just down the road from us that serves the best food from its beach bar and restaurant called Sa-ing Bar and Restaurant. This place is amazing ~ and we just wished we were out there for the sunset. The tables were set right on the beach overlooking some beautiful limestone islands and I can imagine the view of a beautiful sunset sitting right on that beach. Unfortunately we had our sunset at Sofitel and we can only enjoy the best company with the some of the most amazing food.

Terry and Muay, the people behind Sa-ing Bar and Restaurants were great – they were super friendly ~ as well as their staff. They were attentive and service were immaculate. We had a mix of western and Thai food that evening and I would say those cheesy potatoes appetizers were amazing, the green curry spring rolls were unique, and you’ve definitely gotta try their cashew nut chicken. Our two Thai roadtrippers were craving for some somtum and Sa-ing definitely serves one of the best.

We had a great evening at the beach-side bar and restaurant and wowed that we will be back again … food were great, view were amazing and the owners and staff were just the best.

Roadtrippers 1.0 Day 2 taking the team from the Southern border town of Dannok to the lovely restaurant of Ruen Morakot Restaurant ร้านอาหารเรือนมรกต สระมรกต กระบี่ before arriving into the beautiful Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort ~ supper is served at the lovely Sa-ing Bar & Restaurant at Nong Thale

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